Class Attainment Quest

Cyrus carefully took a closer peek at the snake.

While its body wasn't wide, its sheer length made up for that.

Black scales glistened under the small amounts of sunlight that peered into the barn, and they reflected a greenish light.

On a closer inspection, it was slithering, while the limp body of a rodent was stuck on its fangs.

It produced a strange sucking sound, and a terrifying process gradually took place on the poor rat's body.

It was drying up, and its skin turned leathery, while its eyes were sucked inwards.

Cyrus instinctively gulped and diverted his eyes somewhere else.

Over its head, there was an ominous red line of text that he easily recognized.

'Chieftan? Like the bear we defeated...' Cyrus apprehensively recalled that fight.

If not for Chu's necromantic powers, and the fortunate fact that there were numerous monster corpses around, he wouldn't have come out of that encounter alive.

Chieftans were terrifying creatures leagues above ordinary monsters.

However, unlike the bear, this snake was only Level 6.

This gave Cyrus a tad bit more confidence, but the unfamiliar line of text next to (Chieftan) still made him express caution.

'Curse of Armageddon? What does that mean?' Cyrus frowned.

Black flames arose from the old-school, medieval font of this line of text, and emanated a sense of terror.

'Whatever it is...I need to save those children, to complete the quest, and to...' Cyrus lost his parents, and that was already painful enough.

He couldn't imagine the pain that a parent, who gave birth to or raised a child, would feel if they lost their child, even more so, two children.

He then exhaled deeply and invoked the sickle out of his inventory.

Since the snake's body was so long, he wanted to stealthily pierce its 'tail' and pin it to one spot.

Taking slow steps into the insides of the barn, he made sure not to step on any straw, which would produce a creaking sound and disclose his presence.

The two teenager's pupils followed his movements, while the snake concentrated on its prey.

'Am I better at sneaking in the game than in real life?' Cyrus felt like he was being good at this stealthy movement.

Eventually, he shrugged it off, as it was maybe a result of his high Dexterity.

Soon enough, the rear end of the snake's long body was in front of him, and in one swift swing...

*Tsssssssk*

(-36)

The sickle met a bit of resistance, but with some force, it pierced through the scales, and into the ground, pinning the snake into this position.

The snake slithered loudly in response to the sudden pain and threw the rat out of its mouth.

The limp body of the rat fell onto the ground with a thud, but...no blood came out!

'If I came just a bit later, would this have happened to the two..?' Cyrus frantically shook his head and focused back on the snake.

The serpentine creature turned around, and glowing emerald eyes now faced him.

Then, with an unexpectedly quick movement speed, the snake bolted at him, with its bloody fangs on display.

Cyrus instinctively jumped back a few steps and stationed himself on a raised platform.

'With that kind of speed and its long body, pinning it to the ground is practically useless....' Cyrus clicked his tongue and flexed his calved to ready himself for a high jump.

His destination? The sickle!

In one quick motion, he propelled his body a few meters into the air, and with his high Agility and Dexterity, he masterfully performed a flip, reaching further than the jump would have normally allowed.

Taking out the sickle from the snake's body, he severed the tail of the snake and looked back.

His heart thumped loudly.

The platform that he was previously on, now had some sort of acid, and noxious smoke emitted from that place.

This was a terrible situation.

The snake wasn't stupid and began spraying around that acid-like substance everywhere...

Cyrus grimaced and quickly began thinking.

There was only one way to get out of this.

Paragon Online's combat mechanics were more realistic than most games.

If he severed the head of the snake, it wouldn't simply receive high damage, but it would gradually lose health, and...die.

Nonetheless, Cyrus fixated his eyes on the scales on the 'neck' of the snake, and they reflected light differently than the scales on the rest of its body.

'Is there any weak spot in its scale structure?' Even the filaments connecting the scales seemed to be rigid and hard.

Cyrus took the severed tail of the snake and speedily examined it with his magnifying glass.

(Tale of the biophilic soft snake)

Description: The scales of the snake are the epitome of both flexibility and hardness, but they are incredibly vulnerable to repeated sawing.

'For a creature called the soft snake, its scales sure are hard...' Cyrus rolled his eyes.

Though, the second line presented him with very useful information.

"Bring it on, snake!" Cyrus readied himself, though his grip on the sickle was somewhat shaky.

The snake slithered in a screeching manner and bolted at him.

Acid dripped from its fangs, and its emerald eyes only held the ferociousness of a predator.

The snake threw himself at his arms, and unexpectedly, Cyrus..did not move.

(-11 HP)

Cyrus braced himself for the pain, but strangely, his palm steadied the snake digging into his arms.

Meanwhile, his other arm swung the outer, sharp edge of the sickle towards the snake, and...

*Clank*

The scales were as hard as metal, but the snake felt the threat and wanted to escape.

"No, you won't!" His palms held the snake tightly in place, while the long fangs also made it difficult for it to escape.

(-14 HP)

Cyrus grit his teeth, and he moved the sickle in a sawing motion.

The snake made low-pitched slithers, but the sickle was fierce and relentless.

A dozen seconds later, Cyrus was beginning to worry that he didn't have enough HP anymore, but...

He felt the weight on his arms decrease substantially, and when he looked down, the long, severed body of the snake was on the ground, whereas its fangs and head still held onto his arms.

Cyrus removed the head of the snake and groaned in pain.

Just as he wanted to relax a bit, the screen announcing the death of the monster brought him an immense shock.

'5422 Experience Points?!' This was dozens of times the experience that Level 6 monsters usually gave out.

'Is it due to that strange line of text?' Cyrus was confused, but happy at the same time.

This allowed him to level up and regain his health and endurance completely, and he was even halfway through Level 9 now...

Cyrus stared at the two teenagers.

He approached them and noticed that their eyes were open.

The acid of the snake covered their mouth, and the rest of their body downwards.

"I was sent by your father."

"Don't worry, I'll try to find a way to remove this acid, and get you out safely from here."

Unfortunately, he really did not have a way to remove the sticky acid.

Cyrus rubbed his head in embarrassment and looked around.

This yielded no results...

Then, he heard a humming sound from behind him.

He turned around and saw that the two teenagers were trying to point at something since their fingers were not covered in the acid.

Cyrus followed their line of sight, and the only thing in that direction was a bunch of deported lavender flowers...

"Is there something there that I can us-

'OF COURSE, THERE IS!' Cyrus didn't look at the lavender, but the remaining soil on the lower stem(peduncle) of the flower.

He didn't expect that his slight floral knowledge would ever help him...

'Lavender grows in alkaline, or 'sweet soil'! I can use that to slightly neutralize the acid!'

The teenagers regained hope when they saw his excitement, and relief sprung in their eyes when they noticed that he understood what they meant.

Cyrus took a bunch of the dirt, and he carefully mixed it up with the acid.

Soon enough, it did not have a burning sensation anymore, and as he slathered the two with the dirt, they were finally able to move.

However, their bodies were littered with heavy acid burns.

Cyrus softly asked the two, "Can you move?"

The two nodded and tried to do so, but they clearly weren't able to move to their fullest, as they fell down.

Cyrus proceeded to help the two up, and at a very slow pace, they advanced towards the main road that led back to Cape Immergroen.

On the way, they found a carriage passing by, and Cyrus whistled loudly.

"Mister, can we get a ride into the city? I'll pay you."

The owner of the carriage looked at their dirty appearances and looked reluctant, but Cyrus retorted, "We can sit in the front.."

Eventually, the man accepted, and they got a bumpy ride back into the metropolis.

People spectated on the three with disheveled appearances, but they did not care.

After a while, they reached their destination, which was the same alleyway where he got the quest.

The man was sitting on the stairs of a random home, and when he saw someone entering the alley, he raised his head with hopeful eyes.

When he saw his two children, mixed emotions erupted out from within him.

He was overwhelmingly happy and instantly jumped towards them.

However, Cyrus stopped him and said, "They have severe burns, don't cause any friction to their skin by hugging them."

The father looked at his children with worry, and then, he fell to the ground.

"Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you..."

"It's nothing..." Cyrus shrugged, but the touching reunion, and the fact that he was the catalyst to this happy occasion, made him happy...

"Hero, what is your name?"

"It's Cyrus."

"Paragon Cyrus."

The man looked at his wide back with awe.

'Paragons? Like the legendary masters at the peak of their professions?' The man thought it was a grandiose title, but at that moment, the hero in front of him fit that bill.

After that, he left the two teenagers in the care of their father and exited the perimeter with the quest rewards.

A smile crept upon his face when he saw a few notifications.

(LEVEL UP!)

(Your friend Chu Wang is online.)

(Your party member Chu Wang is online.)

Cyrus took out the scroll he had deciphered with the help of Bartholom, and an interactive pop-up appeared on his retina.

(Transition to Class: Rookie, Disciple of Polymedes?)

(Y/N)

Cyrus instantly pressed on 'YES', and a few lines of text appeared.

(Class Attainment Quest)

-Gain the approval of a Rookie Blacksmith with one of your creations.

-Honor the history of artifact enchanters through creating an Artifact or enchanting an existing Weapon/Tool into an Artifact.